Batch Craft Soda Brown Sugar Root Beer

After my last 2 sodas were soooo bad (maybe the worst root beer I've had, and then something that tasted like perfume), I looked for something in my stash that looked promising. So I grabbed this:

Brand: Batch Craft Soda Brown Sugar Root Beer.

Origin: Orange County, California.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar and Caramelized Unrefined Cane Sugar.

Review: This wasn't bad, but it wasn't amazing (unfortunately). The sweetness was a little odd/sharp, and there was a bit too much wintergreen for me. It sure wasn't a BAD soda, but it wasn't a great root beer. So I guess I still have to wait to break my streak of not-great sodas. I have to rank this a bit below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.
 

Love Potion #69 Soda

I opened this last night:

I had a get a better photo showing just HOW purple it was.

It claims to be a slight aphrodisiac.

Brand: Love Potion #69 Soda.

Origin: Gardena, CA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Review: This smelled "perfume-like" when I opened it. I had no idea what flavor it was going to be. And after drinking this bottle, I still can't tell you. It's a bit fruity, but with a weird (and again, slightly perfumey) aftertaste.

When I looked at the ingredients, that explained a little of it: there's a LOT of flavors crammed into this. There's a herbal blend that consists of "Siberian Ginseng, Jasmine, Buchu, Dillweed, Ginkgo Biloba, Clove, Echinacea, Damiana, Kola Nut, Dong Quai (Angelica), Brazilian Guarana, Gotu Kola, African Capsium, and Chamomile."

I can kinda taste the kola nut (a flavor that I've enjoyed in some interesting colas I've had), but one the the things that comes out in the aftertaste is the dillweed. Yep, dill. That's NOT really something that's tasty in a soda. When has ANYONE EVER thought "Mmmm... what this soda could use more of is dill!" Never. Three out of the 4 of us in our house did not care for it.

Score: 3 out of 10.
 

Single Soda Bottles for the "Stay At Home" Order

Starting tomorrow, Minnesotans are asked by Governor Walz to "stay at home" for 2 weeks. (Which is a slightly more lenient version of "shelter at home" that some states are doing.) I was out yesterday to get some groceries at Cub Foods (not our normal place, but they had a few deals), and I noticed their bottled soda selection at the back:

What I was happiest to see was the handful of local Spring Grove Sodas on the 2nd-from-the-top shelf! Including root beer! So head to Cub and stock up for your "stay at home" (although grocery trips are OK over these next 2 weeks).

Pop vs Soda vs Coke Map

I feel like this is close...

In my experience, most of the rural Midwest says "pop," but more of the urban areas (like the Twin Cities where I live) tend to say "soda." So maybe there needs to be at least 2 counties in the Metro (Ramsey and Hennepin) that are green...

Sunshine Bottle Works All-Natural Root Beer

We did a lot of cooking today (while staying inside in the name of "social distancing"), and I opened this to sip on while cooking:

My wife and 8-year-old making bagels in the background.

Brand: Sunshine Bottle Works All-Natural Root Beer.

Origin: San Luis Obispo, CA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: This first sip of this was pretty normal, but then I was BLASTED with a heavy molasses aftertaste. Truly. I checked the ingredients, and nothing stood out there - if anything, it sounded good: "natural flavors with spices of wintergreen, anise and birch."

My wife took a sip, made a face, and said "YEP!" My 8-year-old didn't like it, and that's super rare when it comes to sodas! My 5-year-old thought it was OK. But I didn't even finish the bottle. This might go down as my first root beer that I never finished! Just too much molasses flavor.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.
 

Coronavirus Updates from Blue Sun Soda Shop

Here's an update from a few days ago from Blue Sun Soda Shop:

We are still open. The soda fountain is closed and so is the arcade. Those must stay closed until this passes.

We may be reducing hours of operation in the future as well.

We employ 12 jerks in total and would like to keep them employed. We are not Amazon and if we closed up we would not be able to keep paying our jerks so we are day-by-daying this whole thing.

None of the jerks are being forced to work if they do not want to either.

Billy is no longer giving out hugs.

If you come in the store please respect distance, wash your hands, and know that all of us will get through this sooner rather than later.

We are even discussing Whistler Case delivery to your home.

Good luck everyone. Wash your hands. Sneeze in your elbow. Stay away from crowds.

Blue Sun Soda Shop

That was from a week ago. Here's an update from yesterday: you can fill out this form totaling 24 sodas and they will have it ready at the door for you to pick up:

Good luck out there! Support local when you can!

Cherry Billy's Bubble Pop

I opened this last night:

Brand: Cherry Billy's Bubble Pop.

Origin: Spring Lake Park, MN.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar.

Review: Much like my first Billy's Bubble Pop, this was quite sweet and syrupy. I'm seeing these "Billy's" sodas as being for kids, as they are pretty normal flavors, but just EXTRA sweet. (And my kids think it's hilarious that the colors don't match the flavors.) Not bad, just really sweet. Otherwise a pretty normal cherry.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Sugar in Soda/Tea

Those last 2 frames?... That's how I enjoy my tea.